


The Gift

by Amya



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Gift Giving, M/M, Pre-Slash, Steve Rogers's Birthday, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 07:49:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10715253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amya/pseuds/Amya
Summary: Steve's birthday is coming up and Tony doesn't want Steve to keep thinking that all Tony is about is tech, money, and booze. He wants to give Steve something special that has nothing to do tech.





	The Gift

**Author's Note:**

> So, I have this headcanon that Tony knows how to sew because he made his undersuit, right, and even if he had a bot do it, he has to understand enough about how it works to program the bot to sew. So... he's a fic with Tony sewing Steve a gift for his birthday.

Tony sews. It's not a widely known fact or anything, but the fact of the matter is that yes, he sews. Ana, Jarvis' wife began teaching him when he was small and, honestly, at first, it seemed kind of pointless. He wanted to be an engineer, why in the name of tech would he want or even need to know how to sew? The thing is, though, especially after becoming Iron Man and basically adopting a team of superheroes, it's really become handy.

After Tony had really decided to become Iron Man, not just as a way to get out of Afganistan, but as a way of atoning, of being more, he realized that he needed an undersuit to wear with the armor. Who better to make something exactly to his specifications than himself? He had some of the greatest tailors ever on retainer, but they made the wrong kind of wear. 

So yes, Tony sews. He most certainly doesn't advertise the fact though. Nobody, no human anyway, not even Pepper knows that he's got himself a small sewing room attached to his workshop. At least, he thinks nobody knows. Clint and his obsession with crawling through the vents, THE VENTS, has ended more than one secret Tony has held. 

It's not something he does for fun though, he doesn't make his own clothes, doesn't repair them, but he does have more than a fundamental knowledge of how to use patterns, create them, and sew from them, and being the genius engineer that he is, he's also got a good eye for what size people wear. 

Frankly, Steve and Thor are just ridiculous. Especially Steve, the ancient Dorito.

It's Steve's birthday coming up, though, and Tony wants to give him a nice gift. They've worked really hard on understanding each other since that day on the helicarrier, and Tony has tried to not be as purposely antagonistic as he likes to be, because... well, Steve's Captain America, and genuinely nice, and Tony may have had a crush since he was a kid, but he's never going to admit that. 

Normally, Tony would just create some new tech and hand it over, but Steve isn't really big on tech. He's impressed, can't help but be, Tony thinks, but he lived without it during his formative years and most of his adult years and it just isn't that big of a deal to him. If it were anybody but Steve Tony would be insulted. 

As it stands, he justs wants to give his friend (crush) a nice birthday gift that he'll actually like. So, maybe Steve will see that he's not just an egotistical billionaire, genius, playboy philanthropist. He knows that when Steve was young his mom made his clothes and maybe...

Tony huddles himself in his secret sewing room and researches clothing that was common in the 40's. Maybe...even though it's coming up on the 4th of July, Steve does hate the cold and tends to wear a jacket and long sleeves in the tower because of the air conditioning. 

"J, buddy, you awake?" Tony asks, leaning back in his chair. 

"For you, sir, always," JARVIS replies calmly. "How may I assist?"

Tony thought for a bit few seconds, mentally tabulating all that he would need. "I need three yards of heavyweight cotton, looped and felted on one side, see if you can find it in a good blue, as close to 0D5BAD as you can. I also need matching spandex ribbing for the cuffs. Also some matching heavyweight cotton/spandex blend. 95% cotton, 5% spandex. Matching heavyweight cotton thread, cording, and zipper. Zipper length: 34". Express delivery."

While JARVIS busied himself with locating and ordering all that Tony had requested, Tony himself was busy pulling up the specs for Captain America's uniform. Tony was good at eyeballing sizes, but he wanted to make sure that the hoodie fits well and wouldn't be uncomfortably tight at the shoulders and around the arms, nor overly baggy at his waist or too short for Steve's torso. 

"Stupid Dorito-shaped, giant-sized super soldiers and their giant biceps and abnormal height," Tony groused fondly to himself as he worked on creating the design of the hoodie. He wanted to create something comfortable but slightly tailored. He wanted it to be Steve's go-to jacket choice, but a super comfortable one, but one that would look good and not box shaped and slouchy. It had to be perfect.

\--------------------------------------

Steve glanced around the dining room doing a swift headcount and sighed when he realized that Tony hadn't shown up for team dinner. Again. "JARVIS, where is Tony?"

"Sir is currently in his workshop, Captain Rogers," came the reply. "He does not wish to be disturbed due to...science."

Clint laughed as Steve sighed, resisting the urge to facepalm and instead decided to let eccentric engineers lie. Tony had been better about surfacing from his workshop for food, sleep, and social interaction, so Steve supposed an inventing binge was overdue anyway. 

"Let him know that there's supper if he wants any," was all that Steve said, as he sat down with the rest of the group to eat.

"Of course, Captain Rogers."

\----------------------------------------

Natasha was suspicious. She knew several facts and they weren't adding up the way she anticipated and that just wouldn't do. Fact 1. Today was Steve's birthday. Fact 2, there was a party, but Tony hadn't been around to 'make it better for the old man and hey, where's his Geritol, don't forget that!' Fact 3, Tony had a huge crush on Steve, which was, she was 99% certain, completely reciprocated. Those three facts meant that Tony not planning a huge affair and buying out the most expensive venue for the night and decorating it in the most garish patriotic display possible was very, very odd. 

Still, with Tony not surfacing from his workshop and taking over party planning, that left Natasha and the rest of the group, sans Steve himself, to plan a small birthday party. It was... nice, she supposed. Doing something, not to get information or for favors, but just to celebrate something as innocent as a birthday. 

Banner was baking a cake, chocolate if the smells wafting from the kitchen were to be believed and Clint and Thor were hanging party decorations under Natasha's strict supervision. 

At supper time, when they had planned the party, Steve smiled gratefully at the decorations and the cake, but, though he hid it well, Natasha could see that he was more than a little hurt at Tony's absence. Natasha was ready to march down to the workshop herself and haul Tony up by his big toe when the genius in question showed up, holding a smallish wrapped box and looking more than a little bashful.

He was kind of adorable like that, Natasha thought, taking in the slight flush to Tony's cheeks and the way he was looking up through his eyelashes. 

Tony swallowed and set down his gift for Steve with the small pile of gifts already on the table. He was uncomfortably aware that his gift was different from what he'd usually do. There was nothing grand or ostentatious about it. It was really simple, but even though he made things all the time, it wasn't like this, it wasn't this... personal. It was uncomfortably vulnerable and he wanted so badly to do something obnoxious and overbearing and himself, but more than that he wanted Steve to like his gift and maybe see something good about Tony himself. To see that Tony wasn't just tech and money and booze. That he cared. A lot.

Steve couldn't help but notice that Tony was quiet all through dinner, a delicious "and All American", thanks, Clint for mentioning that, dish of hamburgers and fries, and dessert. The cake was, as they had all told Bruce, absolutely incredible, a decadently rich chocolate cake that had Clint literally hugging Bruce with chocolatey joy, with 32 candles. Steve had more than somewhat expected Tony to make a comment about the number, but all he did was sing Happy Birthday along with the others and eat his cake along with his cup of coffee. 

Honestly, Steve was starting to wonder if Tony was sick and was holding himself back from pressing the back of his hand to Tony's forehead to make certain he wasn't feverish. Nevertheless, he went along with the rest of the small party and began opening his gifts. 

Most of the gifts were fairly generic. Though they lived together, they hadn't been a fully functioning team for very long and for the most part only knew each other in superficial ways. They were friends, yes, but hadn't reached the point of closeness that more personal gifts would allow for. 

Steve slowly unwrapped each gift, taking the time to examine each one and thank the giver. Then he got to Tony's and, as he had with the rest, began by examining the wrapping. His Ma hadn't been able to afford fancy wrapping for Christmas or birthdays, so Steve was really impressed with the different patterns and bows that people did now. As per how Tony preferred, the paper was a hot rod red with a gold ribbon, and Steve couldn't help but grin at seeing Tony's favored colors all over his gift. 

Tony himself was turning red again and was fiddling with the end of some discarded ribbon on the table, eyes darting between Steve opening the gift and the table as though he couldn't decide if he wanted to watch or just wait in apprehensive silence. 

Tony's nervousness made Steve frown a little, but he shook it off and finished unwrapping the gift. Whatever was inside the box was wrapped in white tissue paper, so Steve pulled it out and was surprised to feel that the gift was soft when he had been expecting some kind of tech that he'd never understand. Tearing off the tissue, Steve was shocked to see that it was a piece of clothing. And it was beautiful.

Steve held up the hoodie and examined it quietly. It felt sturdy and so, so soft. The color was a bright blue that Steve realized was a match for his own eye color. The jacket was styled like a modern hoodie but had side panels that stretched a little when Steve examined them. Curious as to the brand, and whether or not he'd recognize it because he might have wanted another, this one was so nice, Steve saw that there wasn't a tag, not even one of those new kinds that were actually on the fabric and didn't scratch. Then he saw the stitching, which was beautiful and sturdy and even, but... "

Tony? Did you... You made this?" Steve asked, astonished, as he set the jacket down and took off the one he was wearing so he could try his new one on. 

Like everything that Tony made, even when Steve couldn't understand it all, it was perfect. It was soft but structured, and it chased away the lingering chill from the air conditioner that brought whispers of cold, too cold with it. 

Tony shifted uncomfortably, but finally looked up at Steve. "Uh, yeah. You're always... you always seem kind of cold, so, and I..." 

Steve was a little taken aback by Tony's continued nervousness, but then he realized, Tony had taken all that time and dedicated himself to making something special and one of a kind, just for Steve, so he'd be comfortable. Tony really did a lot for them all, he realized, and they rarely acknowledged it or him as anything but a showman, when really he was just a man doing his best with the skills he had, and apparently Tony had a lot more skills than what he liked to show off. Steve couldn't help himself then, as he stepped forward and wrapped Tony in a hug. 

"It's perfect, thank you, Tony," Steve said into Tony's ear.

Tony's brain did a blue screen for a couple of awkward seconds, before he returned the hug, smiling and then laughing slightly into Steve's chest when Clint commented, "hey, Tones... that's ... that's an awesome jacket.. don't suppose you've got more down there?" Followed by the sound of Natasha smacking him in the back of the head, Gibbs style.


End file.
